Our new Indie Games subforum is now open for business in G&T. Go and check it out, you might land a code for a free game. If you're developing an indie game and want to post about it, follow these directions. If you don't, he'll break your legs! Hahaha! Seriously though.

Our rules have been updated and given their own forum. Go and look at them! They are nice, and there may be new ones that you didn't know about! Hooray for rules! Hooray for The System! Hooray for Conforming!

Oh my god this game is good. You use treasure cards (gold) to buy kingdom cards (white/blue) and victory cards (green). Victory cards dont do anything in your deck, but at the end of the game whoever has the most points wins. Sounds boring? Wrong!! There are dozens of different kingdom cards but you only play with 10 at a time, so every game will have its own strategy and counter-strategy. There are several expansions out, and they are all great (except for Alchemy. Sorry Alchemy!!). You can also play Dominion online for FREE at http://dominion.isotropic.org. In conclusion, Dominion Owns.

Also don't buy Village.

Puzzle Strike

It's a deck building game but with chips in a bag instead of cards in a deck! Pretty wacky. Also instead of Victory Points, you are trying to beat the other players at a Puzzle Fighter clone by stacking gems. Yeah I dunno either. People seem to like it though.

~*~ Worker Placement Games ~*~

Stone Age

Stone Age is my favorite game that I am terrible at. You have a collection of little guys--"meeples" if you will--that can be placed in different locations to perform different tasks. The theme is sort of based on hunter-gatherer society I guess?? Either way you have to feed your workers, get resources to buy huts and cards, and (this part is important) fuck over the other players as hard as you can by taking the cards and spaces that they need in order to win points. Great fun!!

Alien Frontiers

This game was some guy's Kickstarter project and it has gotten so much hype that he literally cannot keep the things in stock. The hype is deserved. It's a worker placement game where the dice are the workers?? And with a retro '50s space exploration theme??? I think you can still preorder as of this writing but they aren't coming out til March. Doesn't matter, buy it anyway.

~*~ Big Fuckoff Games That Won't Fit On Your Table But They Own Anyway ~*~

Android

Look at all of those bits, goddamn.

Android is a game about catching a murderer. But it's not like Clue, where the murderer is decided in advance and you are trying to figure out who it is--instead, you play as a detective who has a hunch, and you are trying to prove your man is innocent (or guilty). Does this mean you have a real hunch and are trying to find the truth? Or are you fixing up evidence to frame an innocent man/let the real killer go free? YOU CHOOSE! Count on 4-5 hours for this guy but the theme is great and you will probably have lots of fun.

~*~ Co-op Games That Own But Will Stress You The Fuck Out ~*~

See thread title.

Space Alert

Space Alert is a full cooperative, space-themed game where you and a crew of 4-5 (you can play with less, but you shouldn't) try to survive in space for ten minutes. Sounds easy? Figure you can just go full Pandemic/Forbidden Island and power-gamer every turn, making it trivial? Well, wrong, because those ten minutes take place in real time. Here is your ship, the Sitting Duck class space exploration vehicle:

You and your crewmates move about the ship, firing lasers and maintaining the reactors, as a CD soundtrack indicates when another terrifying space-being/enemy fighter/asteroid/deadly ship malfunction has appeared. In real time, you plan your ten-minute struggle to survive, then when it's all over there is a "resolution step" where you find out whether you survived (spoiler: you didn't). Each game doesn't take long--ten highly stressful minutes to actually play, then another fifteen or so to resolve what happened. However, the game is designed with a ramping difficulty, with gentle tutorials leading into tricky simulations leading into brutal full missions. So you'll want to commit a couple hours to this one. I played it for a solid sixteen hours over my birthday weekend and regret nothing.

EDIT: a post itt reminded me, there is a fanmade expansion called "Little Duckling" that shrinks the board and weakens the threats, making it playable with 1/2 players. I haven't tried it yet, but worth considering if you want to try SA but find it hard getting 4/5 people together.

People always ask what is the best two player board game? There are many answers but only one correct one:

Twilight Struggle

The Cold War is our setting, with one player controlling the USSR and the other the USA. You can have influence over different countries of the globe (represented by the little numbered tokens) that goes up or down depending on what you do. A bunch of cards representing historical events/people/things (Cuban Missile Crisis, De-Stalinization, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb) drive the action as the players react to them. It's asymmetrical but balanced, and how cool is that?? You can also play online for FREE, more on that later.
~-~
Got more games you like? Post about them! A post with resources and links and crap is next.

Posts

Board Game Geek - What needs to be said this? Well for the people that are coming here that are new to the hobby or looking to get into the hobby, this would be a great place to start. BGG offers a lot of great things that new players and older players alike can appreciate.

Board Game Prices - This site is great for searching a game you want, and finding the best price for it.

Board Game News - Just as the name suggests, it is a great site for news about board games. Release dates, announcements on reprints, expansion updates, etc... Since it's strictly news, it's a bit better than BGG.

Critical Failure's PbP Gaming Index - Darian does an amazing job of keeping a list of current PbP games as well as completed games. Want to play a game on these here boards? Just refer to this thread. Reading through threads also gives you a good overview of how the game flows.

~*~ Online play ~*~

Can't find anyone to sink seven hours into Arkham Horror with you? Your gaming group took one look at the BSG board and decided to play Fluxx instead? Now there's a solution--play online with strangers instead! Or internet friends, I guess. Here are some links.

VASSAL is a virtual tabletop program. There are hundreds (thousands?) of board games available--all you have to do is download a module for the game you want to play, load it up, and you are ready to go. Some of the modules are pretty barebones, so you have to do all the recordkeeping and piece-moving yourself, but others have automation built in that can really speed things along.

Tell it the threats, tracks, and crew actions, and this flash app will run the resolution step for you. Very helpful, and watching the little dudes run around, hit buttons, and die horribly is chuckleworthy.

~*~ PA Board Game Pals ~*~

From the old OP. If you want to be included or something is out of date, post away!

1. Age of Empires III
2. Race for the Galaxy
3. Power Grid
4. Puerto Rico
5. Beowulf: The Legend

Game recommendations:

Spoiler:

For worker placement, I would say Age of Empires III. The game offers so much and there are so many different strategies to try in order to win. It is very interactive amongst the other players. Your actions can be hindered or directed based on your opponents’ actions.

Train games are a big genre. There are so many to choose from. If you want to get deep, there’s nothing better than the 18XX series. 18EZ is a good place to start. Slowly gets you into the mechanics until you’re practically playing a full 18XX game. Though these games can last a while. Some can play for 8 hours. For a shorter train game Chicago Express is a solid game, that has players working cooperatively amongst one another. Though you are still trying to win, so while you are cooperatively working together, you’re still trying to screw others over. Age of Steam is a very popular game. Very intense and difficult to get the hang of.

2 player games are very much sought after. They just require one person. Lord of the Rings: The Confrontation is a great game. Very short and has a lot of strategic depth to it.

Gene Parmesan -

Spoiler:

Recommended games:

Spoiler:

Twilight Struggle - 2p wargame where the US and USSR battle for global supremacy. Usually 2-3 hours. Great if you don't have 5 friends who play boardgames/Want to invite 5 friends over every time you want your itch scratched. Weight around 3.

Chaos in the Old World - 3-4p. Great 4 player game. Each take control of a god from Warhammer, using dark methods to gain power. Play by Post here

Battlestar Galactica - 2-7p. Co-op game based on the show. Great game of suspicion as humans deal with crisis's and try to root out the cylons hidden in the fleet.

1. Puerto Rico
2. Chaos in the Old World
3. Agricola
4. Dominion
5. Small World

Game recommendations:

Spoiler:

I will recommend Puerto Rico without hesitation to any group over two people. Chaos in the Old World is amazing, but restricted to groups of four that enjoy direct conflict. I have my critiques of Dominion, but it's still a staple of gaming days and I can't see anybody not getting their moneys worth from it. Agricola is my comfort food.

For those forgotten two-player groups I have a small pile of recommendations:

Twilight Struggle -- card-based Cold War conflict. Moderate difficulty to get started, tons of depth.
Hellenes -- block game of the Peloponnesian Wars. Asymmetrical warfare with a lot of depth. Probably not a game you'd play over and over again, but definitely one to bring out every once in a while.
Fire in the Sky -- a relatively simple, quick-playing game of the entire Pacific War. Balanced and fun.

For a dexterity game, Catacombs is awesome. Combines the flicking with a dungeon crawl.
For games with a real-time component (and force AP-prone people to DO STUFF), Galaxy Trucker and Space Alert are awesome. The latter if you want a co-op.

Those are also games I love, and I also love RftG.

Games I'd recommend against: Probably most Steve Jackson games. Most of them are good for a laugh reading the text the first time you play it, but not much else after.

Blood Bowl - Its just so good how can you not love it.
Twilight Imperium: 3rd Edition - 6 hours of bliss.
Tigris and Euphrates - Oh do I love the feeling of winning a huge external conflict to take a monument.
Arkham Horror - Plus its many expansions, hopefully not all at once...
Warmachine - One of the best minis games around, but there is a different thread for that I know.
Twilight Struggle - It does everything right in a card driven wargame.
Formula D - I have some fun homemade Formula D'struction rules for this one.
Space Hulk - Worth tracking down at the ludicrous price they go for.

Bonus: Games that would likely be on this list if I had people to play them with.

Spoiler:

Chaos in the Old World - Oh its fun and great but the wife HATES area control games and calls me a nerd (haha she's a nerd lover)
Napoleon's Triumph - I think aesthetically it is my favorite game in my collection. I've played it twice and had an absolute blast both times. I'm yet to find someone who says "Oh you like board games AND Napoleonic Warfare! Me Too!"
Space Alert - Wife issues again... more on this later.

Limp moose -

Spoiler:

Games I like.

Spoiler:

The Settlers of Catan

Spoiler:

I once Played in the Settlers national championship at gencon and try and teach this game to every new game person I meet. It is just a fun game. While dogged and aged these days to someone that has never played it before it can be quite fresh. There is also a great APP for this on the iphone.

Agricola

Spoiler:

This is a FANTASTIC game. so many different strategies to chose. A new way to win each time. A very complex multifaceted game that is usually never the same game twice. Expensive and not the easiest to come by but super fun.

Bootleggers

Spoiler:

Not a very popular game but one that with the right people can be super fun. In this game you try to gain influence in speak easy's to sell booze to make a profit. The person who makes 100 grand first wins. Each player controls their own moon shine production, distribution, influence, and can mess with other players. Some of the funniest gaming moments of treachery and deceit have been perpetrated in this game. Each round you bid on cards that can have some dubious effects and the game encourages racketeering, black mail, and protection schemes. An example would be I have a card that says I can steal your truck full of booze. I say give me 3 grand to not use it. You pay. Then I steal it anyway. This is within the rules. The conversations this style of play can result it can be quite fun. And there are enough situations where everyone gets in on the action.

St. Petersburg

Spoiler:

This game is similar to a lot of other rio grande games in that it involves building up cities and interacting with other players. I like it a lot. You can plan out your moves several turns in advance and these type of games really appeal to me. It is also a fairly simple game that most people pick up rather quickly. A very EURO game. Give it a shot.

Race for the Galaxy

Spoiler:

Swoon, as a former magic player and lover of all things card games coupled with rio grande style city building. This is like crack for me. I this game

Some games I would like to try that I haven't yet are

Spoiler:

Chaos in the old world.
Defenders of the realm. (has anyone played this? a review would be awesome.)
Conquest of the Empire
The expansions for Agricola, Rune bound, Race for the galaxy.

And finally here are some games that I want to like but just can't.

Spoiler:

Decent.

Spoiler:

This game has all the trappings of D&D in a box that could be a really fun weekend. I bought it played the first two adventures with some friends and put it up on Ebay. I just couldn't get into it. I wanted to but it was just so. BLEH. Did anyone else feel this way. Also holy crap expensive for what you get. I could have bought an entire D&D edition and module for the same price. Sure I wouldn't have had figures but graph paper and warhammer figs work just as well as shitty plastic figurines do.

Arkham horror.

Spoiler:

Sigh. I really wanted to like this. I REALLY DID. I love HP lovecraft and Cthulhu is probably one of my favorite things in all nerd-dom I have a huge tattoo of him on my left arm. But this game just didn't do it for me. The Co-op was marginal at best. Most of the game I was just doing my own thing either unable to help the other players or just not seeing the point. I freely admit I only played twice both times with the same group. (the group I almost always play with.) and we didn't have any expansions. It just wasn't fun. There was no suspense no horror. No real care if we won or not. Contrast this game with something like The house on haunted hill or Last night on earth and why would you ever play it if those were available. I know most people will disagree and I would def be up for being proven wrong (as I said I want to like this game.) But on 2 tries it has stayed on the shelf ever since.

Cranium.

Spoiler:

FUCK THIS GAME
Seriously. Every single time I go to a house party and people want to play games I run to my car and get Apples to apples, Snorta, The werewovles of millers hollow, ect. All fun party games for non gamers. And some bastard always touts out cranium like they are some board game aficionado because they bought it on sale at walmart. There is a reason it was on sale at walmart, IT SUCKS. You know why I really hate this game. Because every time i play it. Every fucking time I have to make custards last stand out of clay in 2 minutes. This cant be done. Michelangelo couldn't do this. You might get an Indian made. And maybe even a cowboy. But you are not going to make a fucking massacre of dead bodies with arrows in them out of play doh in 2 minutes. There are other challenges that annoy me but, yeah I hate this game. And everyone else seems to really like it. This annoys me.

Captain Marcus -

Spoiler:

Favorites:

Spoiler:

Settlers of Catan. Great game.
Axis and Allies. I'm horrible at it but it's always fun to play.
Battle Cry. An amazing Civil War board game for two people.

Hate:

Spoiler:

Risk. Words cannot express my deep hatred for this game.
Apples to Apples. Pretty fun, but got old quickly when it was the only game everyone has at parties.

- Mystery of the Abbey (anyone want to buy my copy? I thought it would be Clue+ and it's really not.)
... that's about it. I'm remarkably easy to please.

Looking to try:

Spoiler:

- Reef Encounter (I own it, but haven't managed to get a group together willing to play such a complex game)
- Steam (I figure I should try at least one train game that isn't ticket to ride)
- Mystery Express (maybe this is Clue+)

Other interesting things:

Spoiler:

- My version of Race for the Galaxy is highly customized given my dislike of takeover rules and prestige points. We have replacement effects on a reference paper for almost all the prestige mechanics in order to be able to use the cards in the recent expansion.
- My second most-played game after Race for the Galaxy is Dominion. Why isn't it on my favorites? Because I only sort of enjoy the game, However it is my wife's favorite game ever, finally ousting Lost Cities from the Throne.

1.) Jamaica (Simple but satisfying)
2.) Tikal (Gorgeous in looks and gameplay)
3.) Kingsburg (Can't wait to get in some games with the expansion)
4.) Roll Through The Ages (The game my friends will play no matter where/when)
5.) Thunderstone (The game my girlfriend will play no matter where/when. Dominion++!)

Dislike

Spoiler:

1.) Fury of Dracula. For Drac it is an exciting game of "they are so close to me, omg!" for hunters it is "Well where the hell is he lets wander around for ever because we have no idea where he is and even when we do it is too easy for him to escape." Traded after 2 plays.
2.) Chaos In The Old World. I love the theme, loved the bits and board, but man. The gameplay bored the crap out of me and everyone I was playing with. Traded it away after 3 plays.

You're new and should try:

Spoiler:

1.) Jamaica. Super simple rules, awesome board, and the major mechanic is too much fun. It is quick and easy to teach. Pirate themed, so your friends may be inclined to try it out.
2.) Drakon. A fun game based on stealing from a dragon's dungeon while playing extra rooms (tiles) to help yourself and thwart your competition.
3.) Citadels. Most agree it is best with more, but I am a huge fan of Faidutti's character selection mechanic and have picked up several other games because of it. Good for lighthearted, larger crowds.

Moving has decreased my ability to get 3 or more players. If you're around San Diego and want to play, send me a PM.

Betrayal at House on the Hill (Best theme driven game ever)
Tongiaki (Best area control, great light game)
Homesteaders (Excellent amalgam of dynamics for a well rounded experience)
Primordial Soup (Best simulation, one of the only simulations that remains a game and is fun)
Santiago (Best economic and negotiation game, one of the best five player games ever)

Dislikes

Spoiler:

I avoid dry, formulatic games with pasted on themes and limited variances on strategy. Hansa Teutonica is my newest nemesis even with it's short playtime, but other offenders include Warrior Knights, Cavum, and Hab & Gut. Dominion gets a big "meh" from me.

The only game I completely refuse to play again is Heart of Africa. Bidding for the prize of taking a turn only serves to keep players from playing the game, and causes irrational overbidding due to boredom because you haven't gotten to take a turn in the last 8 bids. A terrible idea, I loathe this game.

You're should try:

Spoiler:

Homesteaders, a game by a fledgling company which is suprisingly well made and robust.
All classic OOP GW games, particularly the line lisenced to MB. Space Crusade is epic. HeroQuest is dungeon crawl done right.Sunken City, for one of the best screw your neighbor dynamics ever as well as being suprisingly strategic for a screw you game.

Representing the Twin Cities. If you're around here and you don't know about the monthly marathons, they're epic. I'd be glad to introduce you to them, or just play sometime.

CptHamilton -

Spoiler:

Favorite Games of the Moment:

Spoiler:

Arkham Horror: I don't know if I would be willing to play with just the base set at this point, but with the mix of expansion stuff I regularly use I have a lot of fun almost every time I play. I've found that this game suffers dramatically from the introduction of people who don't know how to play. Once every player involved has been through at least two games the whole experience is vastly improved. Partly this is because players don't spend 15 minutes having the rules explained to them on every turn and partly it's because they will have some sense of what kind of cards are in the decks and what the special locations on the board do, meaning everyone can take part in acting strategically.

Chaos in the Old World: I've only gotten to play this once but I really liked it. It manages that weird balance between being a risk-style strategic combat game and being an abstract, goal-based game.

Mare Nostrum: This will probably be supplanted by CitOW once I get a few more plays of it in but it's still my area control game of preference for the moment.

Thunderstone/Dominion: I love both. Probably Thunderstone more just because I'm a sucker for a good theme.

Twilight Imperium/Race for the Galaxy: I don't know why I feel like these are the same game but I do and I love both.

Power Grid: This game was super popular when I was getting into boardgaming and seems to have fallen off the map recently. I think it should come back because it is awesome.

Games I Want to Play (more of):

Spoiler:

I own most of these but haven't gotten to play them yet, or have only gotten to play them once. Stupid jobs and lives and such. Blech.

Mystery Express
Battlestar Galactica
Agricola
Chaos in the Old World
Tomb (I don't own this one but it's currently topping my to-get list)

Games I Will Happily Never Play Again:

Spoiler:

Apples to Apples: I don't understand why people think this is a fun game. There is no game to this game. Even if you use the "argue for your card" rule that people tell me makes it fun, it does not become fun. It just becomes a matter of selecting the person whom you want to win instead of a random card selection.

Munchkin: My wife loves this game so hard. I don't hate it as much as a lot of gamers do, but I'm tired of it. Not so much the cards themselves as we've not played it so many times that I know them all; just the mechanics making the game play out the same way every single time.

Fearsome Floors: It has like a 6.8 or something review on BGG. I have no idea why. We bought it one year near Halloween to add to the stack of holiday-theme-appropriate games (Last Night on Earth, Betrayal, Arkham, etc.). Played it exactly once. Everyone involved agreed that it was a terrible, stupid game and it was never spoken of again.

hacksword -

Spoiler:

Favorite games

Spoiler:

Fast Action Battles: The Bulge

A Game of Thrones

Hammer of the Scots

Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage

Paths of Glory

Honorable Mentions

Spoiler:

Advanced Squad Leader (I've only played the Starter Kits)

The Caucasus Campaign

Cribbage

Go

Wilderness War

Hoping to play next
Wilderness War 2010 reprint - this edition has a fully mounted map board, leader boxes for all the leaders, and it looks like the rulebook has been improved with layout and more examples of play.

1. Pandemic - I’ve tried to introduce my hobby to my family, and this has been the only success.
2. Blokus - Quick, abstract, simple on the surface, but with quite a bit of depth
3. Settlers of Catan - A classic!
4. Citadels - Always a great choice for a big group, and it’s one of the simplest and most elegant uses of the “different role each turn” mechanic that I’ve found
5. Guillotine - Simple, random, but it’s always fun and runs quickly, which I always love

Recommendations

Spoiler:

- If you’re interested in Pandemic, make sure you get the On The Brink expansion. It adds a lot of options that really increases the replay value of the game, and you can add as much or as little as you want. Even if you’re starting out, the extra Special Event cards and the revised Operations Expert make the game really shine.
- Hive is also a great quick, abstract game with depth, like Blokus.
- Ticket to Ride is also great.

The Ender -

Spoiler:

Games That I Cherish

Spoiler:

Settlers of Catan - I love the semi-chaotic feeling of the resource collecting in the game. And being a jerk with the baron is always a hoot.

Prophecy - One of the best adventure board games I've ever played, though WoW + Expansion gives it a run for it's money.

Puerto Rico - I'm no good at this game, but damn is it fun to build your own little economic engine in it.

Small World - Best lite fantasy wargame / area control game on the market, period.

Arkham Horror - My favorite solo game, as long as I've got the right group of people and the right expansions and the right rules variants. The base game itself is clunky, and if you don't use some of the common fan variants the game drags out for too long.

Fury of Dracula - Favorite 'track down the hidden bad guy' game.

Cyclades - There is a Kraken mini you get to move around. This is awesome.

Monopoly - The game that has forever tainted the image of board games in North America. Ask a random American or Canadian to name a board game, this is probably what they'll name. It's notoriety is only exceeded by it's awfulness/

Clue - Most atrociously designed game ever. I hesitate to even call it a game, but the box seems to insist on the label.

Litejedi -

Spoiler:

Favorites:

Spoiler:

Puerto Rico
Dominion
El Grande
History of the World (I know this isn't too popular, but this game scratches an itch in my psyche).
A Game of Thrones
Vinci/Smallworld
Elfenland
Scrabble
Stone Age

Pretty Good:

Spoiler:

Iron Dragon (Runs down in the end and the turns take forever)
Power Grid (I get frustrated with the power plant choosing mechanic)
Race for the Galaxy (Setup/takedown is forever with expansions, high learning curve with expansions)
Citadels (Hard to play with fewer than 6)

Not a Fan:

Spoiler:

Settlers of Catan
Risk
Steve Jackson stuff

Joe Dizzy -

Spoiler:

Games I need to play right now

Spoiler:

Battlestar Galactica
Chaos in the Old World
Dominion
Fury of Dracula
Junta

Usually play party/gateway games as I like to prefer with friends who haven't boardgamed before. I've already grown bored with worker placement/eurogames in general. Don't particularly care for calculating the best moves to trade cards for meeples for points for a dozen rounds in a multiplayer solitaire game, interaction/creative games are my favorite.

What I like:

Spoiler:

Time's Up: Excellent party game. As long as you have some sort of timer (~30 secs) like a mini hourglass you can play your own version by having everyone submit 7-10 names. I'll never grow tired of this game, the third round is hilarious.

Dixit: Also great fun to be had. Like Time's Up it's creative and hilarious. Find some good way to describe your drawing and make sure you win the lottery votes, except not all of them.

Citadels: Love the bluffing aspect along with choosing characters which won't get targeted by the other players. Don't get to play it as often alas as it is kinda harsh for new players. But not too harsh.

Galaxy Trucker: Mix of dexterity, speed and some planning. Unfortunately it takes a while to explain all the different tiles and set-up the board. Quickly build your ship, using tiles before others do and hope it can fend off the challenges that await.

Blokus: Another one of those 'super easy rules, fun to play' games. Tactical enough but not really strategic as you can't really anticipate well on the first moves played before everyone starts to close in. Good fun to be had. The 3D version is shit. 2D is where it's at.

Other recommendations:

Spoiler:

Dice Town: It's like yahtzee except not as boring and with some strategy built in. Rolling dice is fun, fun relaxed game - great evening closer for when you want something light and rolllllllllllllllll diiiiiiiiiice.

Space Alert: Pandemic is boring. Space Alert thus-far the only co-op game I found interesting to play, partly because it can be challenging and the need for individual action rather than playing a solitaire game of swapping cards. What's that, you want to be told what to do? Tough luck, 5 seconds left on the timer and radio silence forbids you from talking. Think! Play! No! Now the gun doesn't have energy! You ruined us all!

Dungeon Lords (Dungeon Keeper the boardgame with competitive resource management). I've played this once and enjoyed it. Currently, I'm not sure if I was dazzled by the theme and didn't pay close enough attention to the mechanics or not.Le Havre It's made by the guy who did Agricola. I've only played this once and only with 2 people. I don't like how it plays with 2 people, however.

Games I dislike:

Spoiler:

Shadows Over Camelot
Battlestar Galatica - I completely dislike the 'coop with a traitor' genera in general. Overall, I think there is some sort of issue that they have with balancing the randomness that is necessary from a pure co-op game with having a sentient traitor into the mix.
Munchkin
Zombies!!!
Brass

Inquisitor -

Spoiler:

Games I Love

Spoiler:

Space Hulk
Cosmic Encounter
Chaos in the Old World
Dominion
Puerto Rico

Shadowfist - the greatest CCG ever made, still alive - fairly easy to get cards for.
Gang of Four - a game for 4 people
Dragon Parade - a very random, lite, filler game perfect for any number up to 5
Ticket to Ride (with 1910 expansion for Big City variant) - The perfect Euro game balance at the lighter end of the scale
Dominion - Nuff said
Puerto Rico - Top rated game on BGG, the perfect euro game balance at the heavier end
Lost Cities - Ideal two player game
Zertz - Can never get enough Zertz.

Games I like

Spoiler:

Ra
Medici - What can I say, I'm a sucker for Knizia bidding games, I'm this close to getting Modern Art as well.
Carcassone - Haters gonna hate but I like it a lot
Metro - lovely screw your neighbour (and every other player on the board) game.
Hive

The face stabbing list

Spoiler:

Monopoly with house rules
Zombies
Fluxx
ZOMBIES
Munchkin - Never actually played but I've seen people playing it. I know I would hate it.
Mother fuckin ZOMBIES.

antherem -

Spoiler:

All Time Favorites:

Spoiler:

Battlestar Galactica
War of the Ring
Dominion
Titan
Advanced Civilization

Mafia/Werewolf (only with the right group)
Arkham Horror (no more than 4 players)
Munchkin (has to be REALLY late and I can't have played in the last 6 months)

Games I'll Go Home Rather Than Be Stuck Playing:

Spoiler:

Any Looney Labs game that isn't Aquarius or Zendo
Risk (in fairness, LotR Risk actually tries to solve Risk's problems and isn't terrible)
Monopoly
Vampire: Prince of the City (the board mechanics are tedious, fiddly, and ultimately irrelevant. Play Dark Influences instead, it's basically the same game without the board.)

GoodOmens -

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Top of the line:

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Chaos in the Old World: arguably my favorite board game EVAR
Small World
Dominion and Thunderstone

Sometimes games...like cookies!

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BSG. I really loved it at first, but lately every game feels like too much time and not enough return.
Puerto Rico
Setters of Catan
RTFG
Cyclades
Das Amulett (a guy at my usual gaming group has a copy, worth a look if you can find it and don't mind German rules)
Battlelore (I regret selling my copy)

I've asked myself that tons of times before. I personally would love to get Twilight Imperium in the worst way, as I love MOO style games... but the time investment has made pretty much all my friends say no. When I say "Rails" game, it is something similar -- build rail networks, trade goods, basically either dominate the map or resources or whatever. Catan sort of has these qualities, but with single cities instead of networks.

And yeah, I meant Arabian Knights.

For reference, I own:
BSG+Pegasus
Arkham Horror + 7 expansions (Currently on hiatus until I perfect its carrying/organization scheme)
Chaos in the Old World
Citadels
Drakon
Wings of War (Dawn of WWII)

Most of these were bought on suggestion from this very thread, where I ask these questions every 6 months or so.

My play group also has:
Starcraft
Dominion (to the point of burnout, they love it at my office)
Carcasonne + a couple expansions
Settlers of Catan + 5-6 (including Seafarers and Knights & Citadels)
And a few others that are less played cuz I don't hang out with them as often, such as Horus Herasy.

(What does the OP mean by "Don't buy the village" for Dominion? Everyone always buys those out first to chain actions...)

Just got 7 Wonders and I'm excited to try it out, should be getting some 5 player games of it in tonight. Super pissed about the component quality though, I was expecting a lot more for the price. Going to try to pick up some sleeves for it, first time I've done that since playing Magic lo these many years ago.

Power Grid is a very good economic system/"rail" network building game.

Your group also should have Puerto Rico available.

It's on the list. A bud of mine played it and loved it, so he'll be getting it when he gets a chance.

Power Grid intrigued me when I saw its box, but I wasn't sure how much economy there was to the game.

The plants are auctioned off each round; each player only can buy one, so the last to buy gets theirs at cost automatically. Then, there is a commodities market where each player in order (worst to first) can buy fuel for their plants. Next, you pay to connect new cities to your grid (with limitations on how many can provide power to a given city). Finally, power up your plants and get income based on the number of cities you provide power to. Finally, re-rank all players (by number of cities, then value of their most expensive plant), add some goods to the commodities market, clean up the auction group, and do it all over again the next round.

The value of a plant depends on how efficient it is and what fuel it uses; the cost of fuel can fluctuate significantly depending on how many players are using it at the time and how quickly its supply is replenished (which depends on the number of players and the board used).

Athenor, which of those games does your group -really- like and why? Easier to suggest when we know not only what you play, but also why you like it.

BSG, Citadels, and Catan are the most frequently brought out. Starcraft requires the right mix, and Chaos is our "we can't find enough players" game. Arkham... well, I'm looking outside of my normal gaming group to play that, due to a lot of factors.

The biggest issue is that my gaming group isn't getting together as much as we used to, now that we are out of college and slightly drifting apart. It'd be easier if I had a car, because then I could go to the 2-3 local gaming clubs.

Honestly, at this point I'm trying to make up my mind between Civ and Twilight Imperium. I'm -really- in the mood for an empire building game... and frak my friends.

You pretty much described BSG when there is a traitor that no one knows about. The game becomes substantially less fun after the cylon is revealed. And then there are the large portions of gameplay where it comes down to "well were still a few jumps away and we have very little morale left. We're going to lose, but its going to take another hour"

Id like to, also, say dont get a huge empire building game without the friends to play it with you. Its going to be expensive and take up a large amount of room. And then you'll never get to play it. I've fallen into this trap many times and am just telling you what I wish people would have told me.

I've been told that too, regarding the empire building games. And I've thought about all the negatives, especially considering that TI apparently pretty much requires its expansion. But... at the same time, I don't want my friends to dictate what I do and don't buy. I'm the kind of guy who likes hosting sessions. After all, I played "game-master" for my last game of Arkham, teaching 5 players who had never played before and 2 vets, and keeping the game on track and handling rules questions.

Don't get me wrong, I want to play. But I think it's one of those things where you have to look before you leap. I won't buy a game without seeing an action report here, and I love following along.

Also, on BSG: Exodus should help with that whole "revealed traitor" aspect. And I -have- destroyed friendships over BSG. I have an awesome friend who gets exceedingly competitive about games and takes it very hard when he loses.

On the subject of ~*~ Big Fuckoff Games That Won't Fit On Your Table But They Own Anyway ~*~:

Arkham Horror

Fight off Cthulhu and try not to go insane! This is the first game most people think of when they hear "Fantasy Flight", and for good reason. One of the most atmospheric games and polarizing due to its heavy dependence on luck. It is also GIGANTIC. So, the base game hardly even fits my living room table? And now you're telling me there are seven expansions?

Everyone who played Arkham have their own horror stories on how they never played the game correctly, but this is more a problem of "having over 2000 bits that interact with each other in ways you didn't think possible until you read them" instead of the main rules. Get someone to teach you and you'll be flying through the turns in no time. As a bonus it even plays solo very well.

Athenor, which of those games does your group -really- like and why? Easier to suggest when we know not only what you play, but also why you like it.

BSG, Citadels, and Catan are the most frequently brought out. Starcraft requires the right mix, and Chaos is our "we can't find enough players" game. Arkham... well, I'm looking outside of my normal gaming group to play that, due to a lot of factors.

The biggest issue is that my gaming group isn't getting together as much as we used to, now that we are out of college and slightly drifting apart. It'd be easier if I had a car, because then I could go to the 2-3 local gaming clubs.

Honestly, at this point I'm trying to make up my mind between Civ and Twilight Imperium. I'm -really- in the mood for an empire building game... and frak my friends.

Twilight Imperium is just a more in depth version of Starcraft I think. I personally prefer Starcraft because games last around 4 - 5 hours rather than 8 - 12.

I could recommend Power Grid, Puerto Rico, Race for the Galaxy, Agricola, Age of Empires III, Chicago Express, Steam/Age of Steam, and a bunch of other games that are amazing that you don't have.

On the subject of ~*~ Big Fuckoff Games That Won't Fit On Your Table But They Own Anyway ~*~:

Arkham Horror

[...]

Get someone to teach you and you'll be flying through the turns in no time. As a bonus it even plays solo very well.

This is true. There are some amazing rules summary sheets out there, and one I've become very fond of the modular reference sheet, which fits on 4 pages (5 with the annotations for where the ruling comes from). I'm also in the process of boxing and sorting my cards so that I can quickly insert or remove parts as we decide upon playing.

If anyone wants to learn TS I will be on vassal in an hour or so. Big fun!!

Dammit, why did I only see this now. I spent my evening being stuck in a frustrating advanced map in Portal when I could have played TS. Anyway, I play the newest module, 3.05 for the deluxe version. We should play sometime.

Personally, I'm loving my shift of hobbies away from video games over to board games. It has, however, provided me some perspectives on the difference between the two industries. For example, coming in to board games I'm always surprised by the extra mile they seem to go for the customer, at least in comparison.

One thing I'd like to touch on though, and ask for people's input, is the controversies of the two. Within Video Games, sexism seems to be the common problem. Many games exist with no or few female character options, always restricted to impossible proportions, trapped in armor that resembles lingerie more than protective clothing, etc. Flat female characters that are often weak and voiceless. This doesn't seem to be as much of a problem within board games. It's always fun to introduce new players to the female character options in Arkham Horror, listing off that they can play not just the beautiful socialite, but the psychologist, the college student, the author, the scientist, the researcher, and the nun in the base game alone.

On the other hand, I see complaints of racism come up more often in board games. While there are certainly examples within video games, they don't seem to get much attention. On the other hand, I've seen multiple comments on the racial implications of Puerto Rico, or complaints of racial stereotypes (from as vastly different places as characters in Arkham Horror to the theme of Wok Star).

Am I just noticing exceptions and coincidences, or does this seem to be the case? And if so, why?

Was able to give Tribune another shot this weekend. I think the expansion objectives make the game a lot more interesting. I haven't had a chance to try out the effects of the Brutii yet because you need a five person game.

Personally, I'm loving my shift of hobbies away from video games over to board games. It has, however, provided me some perspectives on the difference between the two industries. For example, coming in to board games I'm always surprised by the extra mile they seem to go for the customer, at least in comparison.

One thing I'd like to touch on though, and ask for people's input, is the controversies of the two. Within Video Games, sexism seems to be the common problem. Many games exist with no or few female character options, always restricted to impossible proportions, trapped in armor that resembles lingerie more than protective clothing, etc. Flat female characters that are often weak and voiceless. This doesn't seem to be as much of a problem within board games. It's always fun to introduce new players to the female character options in Arkham Horror, listing off that they can play not just the beautiful socialite, but the psychologist, the college student, the author, the scientist, the researcher, and the nun in the base game alone.

On the other hand, I see complaints of racism come up more often in board games. While there are certainly examples within video games, they don't seem to get much attention. On the other hand, I've seen multiple comments on the racial implications of Puerto Rico, or complaints of racial stereotypes (from as vastly different places as characters in Arkham Horror to the theme of Wok Star).

Am I just noticing exceptions and coincidences, or does this seem to be the case? And if so, why?

video games are pretty racist too but other than that you have a point.

also here is a Good Post from another forum about village and why it is garbage

It turns out Village is one of the worst cards in the game.

There are three degrees to this:

1. Village is +1 Card, +2 Actions. Any card that is +1 Card, +1 Action replaces itself and thus "doesn't count" for your deck. Every other card that has this effect has something that really contributes to make this a really powerful effect. An extra action is the weakest addition to your deck.

Having the option for +2 actions makes you play sloppy, as well. It encourages you to buy terminal actions that would hurt you in the long run together.

So, what I'm saying is that Village does literally nothing unless you have 2 terminal actions that you plan to play in the same turn. You spent a turn buying nothing.

2. The odds of you drawing Village and your terminal actions is abysmally low. You'll end up drawing both the actions and no village (which sucks, because one of those cards could have been money). You'll draw a village and one or no actions, and so on.

3. Village costs the same amount as Silver. The key of the game is to increase the buying power of your deck enough so that you can buy enough victory cards to end the game while in the lead (and each victory card bought reducing your buying power). If you draw 4 coppers and a village, you're doomed to $4 (which buys jack shit) unless you draw a Silver with your village (which you couldn't do because you bought a Village instead).

If you drew 4 copper and a silver, you could buy a gold. Gold is awesome. Gold lets you buy 5-cost actions (which are amazing) and 6-cost actions (which are also amazing) consistently. Gold also opens the way to Province, the best card in the game. Why gold is awesome is beyond the purpose of this point. The purpose of this point is that you don't have enough money in your deck. When do you have enough money? When you can literally buy a Province every turn uninterrupted. You can not buy Provinces with just copper.

I find it rather silly to call Puerto Rico racist. Even if the little brown bits were called something less neutral than "colonists", saying that slaves were used for labour on Caribbean plantations in the 17th century is just...true. It's what happened. That doesn't mean you condone slavery. I'm normally one of the first to point out racism and other bigotry, but sometimes people need to learn to distinguish fiction from reality.

I find it rather silly to call Puerto Rico racist. Even if the little brown bits were called something less neutral than "colonists", saying that slaves were used for labour on Caribbean plantations in the 17th century is just...true. It's what happened. That doesn't mean you condone slavery. I'm normally one of the first to point out racism and other bigotry, but sometimes people need to learn to distinguish fiction from reality.

I mean, I mostly agree with you here, but there's a difference between describing a historical fact and simulating being a slaveowner.

Really, though, Puerto Rico's theme is so shallow that I don't think anyone should care what the little brown bits are supposed to be.

Man, speaking of Arkham Horror, I just can't get into that game. We played it last week at a game night and a lot of the people seemed to really like it (we've got some big cthulhu fans, myself included) but the game itself felt really boring to me. There just didn't seem to be much to do and you sort of vaguely bumble around until you win.

A friend of mine picked up a bunch of new boardgames the other day and we played through them. He got Carcassonne Hunters and Gatherers which blows the original clean out of the water as far as I'm concerned. It has better mechanics and the gameplay feels tighter, there's no reason to really touch the original anymore in my opinion.

He also picked up Forbidden Island which was surprised me, I was expecting it to just be a worse pandemic but it's actually decently fun. We started on the second hardest difficulty and got smoked our first game but we managed to eke out the win a second time. The roles do not seemed balanced at all however, and instead of randomizing them I'd say that people should pick which ones they want based on how hard they want the game to be.

He also grabbed 7 wonders, which was pretty fun. We only got one game in but I'm definitely looking forward to playing it more. None of us were really prepared for the cards that hit in the third age but now that we know what to expect I'm looking forward into seeing what strategies evolve.

He also got the german edition of Ticket to Ride, which seems better than the other version that I've played but was still not really my cup of tea.

I want to point out that I'm not saying that video games are sexist and board games are racist, or even certain examples such as Puerto Rico are racist, just that they are seen that way. Video games seem to receive more complaints of sexism, and board games more of racism. Why is that? Is there actually a problem of race in board games to warrant the attention it gets?

In the end it's all a bit silly, as it's just board games. Even when I've explained the theme of Puerto Rico before a game for newcomers, and receive a few raised eye brows, I've never had anyone refuse to play or even remember the complaint once the game gets underway.

I find it rather silly to call Puerto Rico racist. Even if the little brown bits were called something less neutral than "colonists", saying that slaves were used for labour on Caribbean plantations in the 17th century is just...true. It's what happened. That doesn't mean you condone slavery. I'm normally one of the first to point out racism and other bigotry, but sometimes people need to learn to distinguish fiction from reality.

I mean, I mostly agree with you here, but there's a difference between describing a historical fact and simulating being a slaveowner.

Really, though, Puerto Rico's theme is so shallow that I don't think anyone should care what the little brown bits are supposed to be.

This is another good point: boardgames are much more abstract than, for instance, increasingly photo realistic video games. Not that I believe in the harmful effects of video games either.

About simulation:what about playing Germany in Axis & Allies? As I see it, it should be possible to separate the ethical questions from the strategic/tactical ones. Unless we're talking about something like "Auschwitz: the worker placement game". Then again, what about something like this: artwork/boardgame hybrid.

I think board games (especially the euro type) are just too far removed from anything remotely resembling some kind of narrative to qualify for labels such as racism or sexism. I don't think this is true of video games, which might be why those complaints carry (somewhat) more weight there.

But really, most board games are perfectly fine with just being semi-complex problem generators that the players have to work through. Should board games eventually reach the point of being about "the experience" or "the story" things might change.

Yeah, the core of board games is game play, not story or theme. And it's pretty hard to make math racist. Probably.

That said, I'm not sure I even recognize the picture of more racism controversies in board games than video games. It's just a much more niche market, and so it's less visible, and there are fewer people to get in silly flame wars about perceived racism.

The niche factor also explains why board game companies in general do more for their customers than the video game industry. Also, there are fewer people between the game designer and the gamer in board gaming.